New figures show record high achievements for secondary school pupils in Wales

Education Minister, Huw Lewis has welcomed finalised exam result statistics for 15 and 17 year olds, saying they demonstrate that performance and education standards in Wales are improving across the board.

The finalised 2013/14 statistics, reveal the highest year-on-year improvement rates for 15 year olds in Wales since records began in 2006/07.

The figures show that in 2013/14, 55.4 per cent of 15 year old pupils in Wales achieved the Level 2 threshold which includes a GCSE grade A*-C in English or Welsh first language and mathematics. This represents an increase of 2.7 percentage points on 2012/13 figures and an increase of 11 percentage points on 2006/07.

The picture for 17 year olds is also positive with the Level 3 threshold up on 0.6 percentage point increase on 2012/13.

Huw Lewis said:

“I am very encouraged by these statistics. They show that performance for our 15 and 17 year old students is continuing to improve, that we are making real and solid progress in driving up education standards in Wales and that we are closing the gap with England.

“I am particularly pleased by results for the Level 2 inclusive threshold. This is the main measure of school performance and this year we have seen the highest year-on-year improvement since records began.

“Of course there is still work to be done, and there is no room for complacency in our work to improve education performance, but I would like to congratulate Welsh students and their teachers on the hard work that has gone into achieving these encouraging results. “

The Welsh Government’s will now feed this final examination data into its categorisation system for secondary schools. The categorisation system helps the Welsh Government to identify the strengths weaknesses of individual schools and is an important part of its ongoing work to drive up performance.